About The Chamber

The Founding Members of Southampton Chamber of Arts

Below you will find short informational biographies of the core members of the Southampton Chamber of Arts; these are core founding members and the ones who have been working tirelessly on the organisation from the beginning. More members are welcome to come and get involved with all aspects of the Chamber’s work, indeed people already are coming forward and taking on more active roles within The Chamber.

Southampton Chamber of Arts is a fully inclusive not for profit organisation. No members of The Chamber are paid, we volunteer our time for something we are all incredibly passionate about; the arts in Southampton. All work we have undertaken to date has been built on the resource of skills and information that its sharing members bring to The Chamber. We then use this resource of imaginative minds to create both sustainable and productive activities and events. Southampton Chamber of Arts passes onto its members the fruits of its success at cost or for free. We believe that in doing so; a friendly community of artists from all fields can develop and grow in Southampton. Using the Chamber's growing numbers, our voice will increase the amount of accessible art resources and events in the coming years to put our city on the map. Defining what urban art culture is in the 21st century. We aim to support art, encourage groups and existing organisations in as many ways as we can. The more members we have, the more productive we shall become!

Steve Kearslake is the Chairman of the Southampton Chamber of Arts and is core in the organisational structure of the Chamber. Steve is a Director and Jack of all trades; overseeing the smooth running of the Chamber in all areas including developing marketing strategies, liaising with local businesses and masterminding revenue streams. He previously worked as a trade union development officer in the power generating industry, the health service and national media. He is also a fully qualified electrician. Steve is a model designer and pop artist, known for his resin model kits of science fiction style characters under the artist name of Timepsycle Steve.

Helen Trimarco-Ransome is our Events Co-ordinator; she also finds funding opportunities and writes the bids. She has extensive experience working with youth development. She also manages the social media presence of The Chamber on Facebook, Twitter etc. Helen is a local artist, poet, author and classically trained violinist. She primarily works with glass and incorporates the use of many other mediums in her work.

Slam Daniels is our Urban Art Developer working with other members to develop urban arts within the city and he is also our graphic designer. He creates all our logos and other design and print needs. He is a superb graffiti artist, digital artist and published author. He specialises in photorealistic murals which can be seen all around the globe.

Coleen Kearslake is our General Administrator, account wizard and general good egg; she flies through piles of demanding emails, visualises the development and administration of The Chamber website, without Coleen we would still be counting on our fingers! In her paid job she is General Manager and a director of the oldest taxi company in Southampton and brings all her managerial and accounting skills from there to The Chamber.

Denis Reading is a journalist and the Press Officer of The Chamber. Born and educated in Southampton, he spent most of his career working in Southern Ireland. For 20 years he was a reporter on the then Cork Examiner and broke many exclusive stories. He covered all of the major news events of the time and was a prominent member of the NUJ, and a member of the Association of European Journalists. He was one of four journalists awarded the franchise for an independent radio station and was an Executive Director and Head of Public Relations for the station. He was Press Officer for Cork County Council for 5 years and handled PR for the City of Cork VEC including the then Regional Technical College, Cork School of Art, School of Music and School of Commerce. For two and a half years he was Personal Secretary to Ireland's Minister of Sport.

Leo Deville is our Community Spaces Liaison Officer; she manages the free creative spaces we are finding for our members to use and oversees the smooth running of the groups. Leo is a local ceramic artist and jewellery designer and exhibits extensively across the South of England.

Ian Cumming is another of our Directors and an admin on the website. As a talented photographer he is also The Chamber photographer. Ian brings his skills in IT and press photography and advises the foundation group on all things image related, covers our events and remains a steadfast member of the core founding group.